When the Household Charge was introduced there was an exemption granted for all residential property owned by registered charities (with a CHY number) . Church property in the majority of Irish dioceses is held in a Diocesan Trust, which has a CHY number – so the majority of houses owned by the Church were exempt. (Although there were reports of some priests being told to pay the household charge by their bishops to show solidarity with the general public)

The new Property Tax legislation only grants an exemption to properties owned by charities if they are used solely or primarily to provide special needs accommodation.

There are about 1380 Catholic parishes in the country – so on the basis of at least 1 church owned house per parish – that could mean a property tax bill in the region of half a million euro a year based on an average house value of €225000.
The minimum property tax bill for the Catholic Church ,based on the lowest amount of €90 a year, will be close to €125k.

The Catholic Church also faces big property tax bills in Italy this year too . A new property tax scheme has been approved there which strips the Catholic Church of its exemption from local property taxes on real estate used for commercial purposes.